Legacy Republic takes your vintage family memories and transfers them to a digital format. You get access to a private online account to view all of your digitized photos, videos, reels, scrapbooks, etc., which you can then share with friends and family. Your originals are then returned to you — along with an archive DVD of everything.

Legacy Republic is a home party business, but I do much more than that: I have also attended vendor events, spoken at genealogy groups, and use Facebook and Instagram for marketing.

What makes this business a great fit for you?

As a Legacy Maker with Legacy Republic, I help families reconnect with their vintage family memories and bring them into the digital age to preserve and relive their most precious moments again. I chose this business because, as a scrapbooker, photos and memories have always been important to me, and I saw this as a great opportunity to have my family memories preserved and help others do the same. I want my children to be able to watch these videos of their great-grandparents wedding, of their grandma learning to ride a bike, and of their mom at their age.

As a Legacy Maker, my involvement in the process greatly depends on the customer and their needs. People who are local might drop off something like an entire box of slides, tell me they want them all transferred, and give me their information. For these customers I go through and get the slides (photos, negatives, film reels, VHS tapes, whatever they bring me) ready to go, counted, and carefully packaged and bring them to the UPS store myself.

For others who aren’t local, I have helped them over the phone and video chat to make sure their memories are packed securely and orders entered properly. We recently launched our new Memory Makeover Kits which make it even easier for people who aren’t local to get their memories digitized: Anyone can go on my website and order a Memory Makeover Kit in the size they need, and it will be shipped directly to their house. The Memory Makeover Kit includes everything they will need, including packing materials, boxes, and even the tape to seal it before dropping off the completed kit at their local UPS store.

So, the level of interactivity greatly depends on if a customer is local to me and how much help they want/need. Once they get their memories transferred and have their online account, I send out a follow-up email to make sure they were able to log in and reassure them that I am available for any questions they may have about their online accounts.

Is this full time or side income for your family?

I have been a Legacy Maker since January 2016. My mom was one of the original Legacy Makers when they started the company, and when I saw what she was doing, I wanted in so I could help spread the mission to my friends. Currently I am making a couple hundred dollars per month as additional income for our family, but Legacy Republic isn’t my sole focus. This business has the potential to grow into full-time when I have more time to be able to dedicate to it. With two young boys, our schedule is not the best to devote more time at the moment, especially with sports on the weekends.

Legacy Republic is a direct sales business. As with any direct sales company building a team helps you increase your income, but it isn’t necessary. From the moment you sign up, you make 20% on any customer orders. So, even if you don’t have any downline, you can still make an income as a Legacy Maker.

What’s your most — and least — favorite part of the business?

I love hearing stories from my customers who have had their memories transferred and get to hear a deceased loved one’s voice again, see their grown children as babies again, or even be a ‘guest’ at their own wedding! These stories just confirm how important our mission is and why I originally got into this business. What we do is so important, because it’s so easy for something to happen to those old family memories. Film reels and VHS tapes get moldy and deteriorate, old photos lose their color and fade, slides are hard to view and can get damaged… I can’t imagine losing the photos of my children as babies or the videos of their first steps, and I love helping other families protect theirs as well!

My least favorite part of the business, honestly, is making phone calls. I hate talking on the phone and would much prefer to text or email someone, but that doesn’t create the same connection as a phone call (or, even better, an in-person conversation). I don’t typically make sales calls; I don’t like getting them, so I don’t make them. If I am on a call it is usually with someone who is already interested in what we do from either a customer or potential consultant standpoint.

What advice would you have for others looking to get started doing something similar?

First, try it out as a customer if you aren’t sure about signing up. Trust me, you will be amazed with what you get in return for sending in your family memories.

Realize that there is an initial startup cost: $199 to sign up to become a Legacy Maker. This includes everything you need to get started, a lot of promotional materials, order forms, a bag to carry it in, etc. The biggest bonus, though, comes with the order credits. When you sign up as a Legacy Maker, you are given $199 in credits to use for your own transfers and then 20% off any personal orders after that. So as long as you have your own memories to transfer, you can use those credits immediately and the signup has paid for itself. (I used my credits to get all of our family scrapbooks digitized, so now I don’t have to worry about losing those photos and stories in the case of a home catastrophe such as fire or floods.)

Legacy Republic is a wonderful company to work with. I had the opportunity to go to California last summer for our first annual convention and a chance to get to see the Memory Factory. I also got to meet all of our amazing home office staff and really get to know some of the other Legacy Makers. We have an extremely supportive home office staff who do everything they can to help us out. We have a private Facebook group and there are weekly calls to help with ideas to promote your business as well as announcements of anything new. They really do give you everything you need to be successful.